Silverstone Classic

By Website Admin

Three days, 1200 racing cars , a couple of thousand road cars on display and and English summer of sun , wind and rain. Highlights? Watching a Lotus Elan 26R thrash Cobras and TVRs in a wet race on Saturday night, hearing forty DFV engined F1 cars spear through Becketts ; marvelling at the Kardashian sized arse on a Porsche 918 hypercar which doubtless will spend most of its time poncing around SW1 and yes , yet again, being reminded that Formula Ford 1600 offers the closest fought racing of any category. Oh - and hearing that other-worldly , deafening howl from the Renault V10 in Nigel Mansell's 1992 Williams .

I talked to lots of people for the book , including former F1 driver Howden Ganley ,racer/journalist Richard Meaden and commentator Henry Hope - Frost and all had a lot to say , even to this random amateur hack .

I was talked into joining a parade lap of the circuit in my Caterham and was glad I did so. My new friend Mats from Sweden was my passenger and we followed Clive Chapman (Colin's son and Classic Team Lotus boss) around the circuit; Clive was in a pukka Lotus Seven twin cam , unlike we parvenus in our ersatz Caterhams.

Having driven around Copse at about 55mph, being aware that Messrs Hamilton and Vettel take it at 100mph or so more than I did, I now understand why F1 drivers have Schwarzenegger sized necks ....

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The Author

John Aston

"There's lots I want to say and I'm hoping that you might want to hear it?"